Ross Wellinger is a 30-year-old actor represented by Abram Artists Agency and also works as a private fitness trainer. Wellinger is from Smithtown, NY, and played Football and Basketball. He says his claim to fame is that he weighed 215Lbs in High School and was an all-star French Horn Player.
MM: What part of the fitness industry are you in currently?
RW: I currently work as a Personal Trainer for private clients in NYC.
MM: Where does your passion for fitness and wellness come from and do you have a specialty?
RW: My passion for fitness comes from a lifetime of playing competitive sports. I was always training for something growing up, and once I stopped competing, I found other ways to challenge my body. I’d definitely say that my specialty is trail running. It’s my favorite thing to do, and no matter how hard I’m working, it’s always fun.
MM: How have you had to adapt as an athlete since you first started to compete in sport and fitness?
RW: I’ve had to learn when to really push my body and when to take it easy and recover. When I was younger, I was go go go, but now it’s not uncommon for me to do 30 minutes of mobility work before a workout. I’m always looking for different ways to challenge my body, but injury prevention is a priority for me. Injuries are the death of consistency.
MM: Are there any major fitness trends or workouts you have embraced recently that you want to share with us?
RS: I wouldn’t necessarily call it a trend, but I’ve been using the Row machine a lot lately and love it as full-body conditioning workout. If I’m doing a lot of trail running, Rowing is a good way to switch it up to prevent any overuse injuries. Also, Kettle-bells are the best!
MM: Aside from diet and sleep, what are men getting right in the health and wellness industry and what can be better?
RW: If there’s one thing that men are getting right in the health and wellness industry, it’s Functional Fitness. As the industry has moved away from traditional bodybuilding type workouts as the go-to, more compound, dynamic, and athletic moves have become trendier. Yes, there are a lot of less useful exercises and workouts designed solely to make you look like a badass on Instagram, but training in a way that will make everything in your daily lives easier and less strenuous is the way to a healthy, strong body that will keep you happy for years to come.
MM: Have you ever had to overcome an injury or a fitness-related challenge that seemed impossible? What did you learn?
RW: I had a really bad shoulder injury playing football when I was younger. After surgery, it was a long road to get back to full strength. Taking long time off from training to focus on rehabilitation was a great lesson in patience for me.
Outside of diet, what 3 exercises or movements would you tell our reader to do to look their best in their swimsuit? My 3 favorite moves to help you gain strength and lose fat are deadlifts, kettlebell clean and press, and hill sprints!
MM: Words to live by?
RW: Break a sweat every day and eat REAL food!
